Just One Of Those Things
by starfairy14s
Summary: 'You fumble in Adulthood as you fumble in Adolescence. So far it hasn't felt any different, and yet everything's changing at the same time...' - Hinata, Ino and Sakura are Uni-Juniors in Tokyo. One break they decide to drop by two old friends for a visit. What starts as an inconsequential weekend spurs a series of unexpected decisions. - Modern Setting AU -
1. Just One Of Those 'Friendship' Things

Star - Kind of experiencing a slight Naruto slump again, so I felt the dire need to do another (more deliberate) NaruHina deconstruction fanfic. There's nothing for me to read to compensate for the aggravation I'm randomly feeling towards Naruto's character, and so I have to apologize if the quality of this fic isn't great (of course it is fanfiction, though, hurpderps). This fic will not have bashing of any kind, but depending on the direction, the drama may be a form of bashing in of itself, heheh.

_Tags: Modern Setting AU, Slice of Life, Friendship, Romantic Friendship, WAFF, Sexual Content, Love Triangle, Drama..._

Story title inspired by/taken from Meg & Dia's "Just One Of Those Things"

**WARNING: Turn away if you're expecting strictly NH fluff. This is NOT my other new upcoming fic that I did a sketch-dump for. This is my stupid little cartharsis project.**

* * *

Just One Of Those Things

Ch. 1 - One Of Those 'Friendship' Things

**The **_**Shinkansen**_** would have been the most efficient choice.** But it wouldn't have been as much fun.

Hinata stretched her hand high over her head, feeling the wind rush against her skin; the friction was fleeting yet constant, sensation tangible and yet so clearly nothing. She was happy to take the family convertible lent to them. Neji had driven up to meet them and was going to make the return with Tenten on the bullet train.

Ino was sprawled out in the back asleep with her feet hanging out over the side, while Sakura calmly drove them down the country back road, a bemused smile on her face.

It was fully summer and it was fully grand. The air hung with slight moisture, the warmth of it all clinging to every pore and breath like a dewy butterfly kiss.

"The exit's coming up," Sakura groaned out, part of her annoyed at how often and plenty Ino pampered herself. She'd been asleep like a cat for the past three hours. Hinata turned around in her seat and gently lifted Ino's ankles off the side and laid her feet flat on the seats. The indulgent blonde shifted with a sleepy moan as if acknowledging the world for just a little bit before settling back into willful ignorance.

The pearly white convertible curved onto a four-lane highway, leaving the leveled rice paddies and rural surroundings behind.

Hinata slumped leisurely in her seat, the summer air a coaxing sort of aphrodisiac. She fondly recalled the scent of sunflowers.

A sign passed them by, and it would be another 25km until the next pit stop.

* * *

Hinata sat in the driver's seat with her feet on the hot parking lot, her thumb pressing down on the right arrow button of Sakura's digital camera every second or so. Her lips pulled into a small smile as she revisited the memories displayed on the mini-screen like they were already slide shows of a distant time. There were occasions when she caught herself being so nostalgic that she'd balk a bit more strongly than necessary, simply because it seemed she got sentimental over almost everything.

But she had so many warm memories that she would soon remind herself that there was nothing to regret.

And she'd been looking forward to this vacation for the past six weeks, readily dragging along (polite inviting ahead of time) the two friends she's been with since elementary. They recently became city girls two years ago when they moved to Tokyo for Universities: Ino and she attended the same school while Sakura was doing nursing in West Tokyo.

In these shiny, gilded two years, Hinata had become as close to Ino as Sakura, and to say Ino was a strong influence on her might be putting it mildly - One of the pictures were of Ino giving Hinata a chaste kiss on the lips with a plucked daisy between the blonde's lips, the two of them surrounded by orangey-yellow sunflowers.

Ino had given Hinata a backbone and a spinal injection of 'FUN' to go with it.

A distant bell jingle pulled Hinata's attention away from the camera and she saw Sakura emerge from the convenience store with a tray of coffee and a plastic bag of snacks.

* * *

There were times Hinata wished she could express to Ino what she meant to her, in form of sisterly kisses and other spontaneous actions - just so the next time she outstretched her arms, she could really feel the edges of freedom recede from her fingertips as if she were breaking through the stratosphere, so that she could experience the true feeling of liberation and feel assured she was on the same level as the rest of her friends - that she was centered, and to her that was perfection.

But she couldn't work out her shyness entirely and she still found herself politely declining away from several opportunities to mingle, misbehave, and ultimately be more than herself.

Hinata kept her eyes on the road but glanced from the corner of her eye as she took notice of Sakura leaning over to the back from the passenger seat. The sound of crinkling told Hinata that Sakura was unwrapping one of the cupcakes they had bought the day before, which got melted in the sun over the course of their drive.

A tiny gasp escaped Hinata's lips as she watched Sakura lift Ino's sweater dress from the rear-view mirror.

"Sakura-chan..." Hinata tried not to smile and she really tried not to laugh, but that only caused soft little snorts to escape and she tried not to laugh at that as well. She watched Sakura let go of Ino's dress, the cupcake positioned in place, then she 'innocently' closed Ino's legs for her. _'See now, that's something I wouldn't have even considered doing...'_ She half-smirked to herself, trying to work on the 'I saw nothing' calm she cultivated over the past couple of years.

Sakura slunk back in her seat, snickering madly from beneath the tight lid that was her palm, and Hinata couldn't stop the nasal vibrations herself - it only spurred them both into a maddening giggle fit as they couldn't stop imagining the moment Ino would turn over.

Hinata couldn't help but also smile at the unbecoming photo she had witnessed earlier: Herself asleep in her hotel bed, half of her face decorated with a full-on seaweed beard created from a package of _nori_ and a helping of bottled water.

It was nice not being an exception.

* * *

"Aaaaughhh! Why couldn't we have been here when it was Fashion Weeek-!" Ino swung herself to sitting as she exclaimed dramatically, when her eyes narrowed to slits at the innocently expectant looks Hinata and Sakura were giving her, "What. The fuck... **SAKURA!**"

"Hey! How do you know it was me and not our little lady-in-training?!" Sakura threw back, her face smug while Hinata was curled up in a quivering ball of suppressed laughter.

"Because she loves me too much!" Ino - playfully albeit roughly - shoved her palm into Sakura's face as she stood up from the back seat, the melted cupcake thoroughly squashed between her thighs. You'd have to pay for cleaning if this shit got on Neji's car," Ino then lifted her sweater dress and the two girls burst out into hysterics. It echoed all across the parking lot, causing a family of stragglers to look on in curiosity before pretending they saw nothing and scurried along. "Take a picture," Ino blithely suggested, no longer putting on her prissy pissy act, and Sakura did just that.

_Ch-chk!_

"Hmm... Maybe if it weren't chocolate, this would be an effective piece of cock-tease," Sakura's eyes twinkled as she hid her mischievous grin coyly behind painted fingertips, "Guys would _love_ to eat frosting off of Ino's fat thighs, wouldn't they?"

Hinata could barely muster a proper reply and she just resigned to discreetly nodding where she crouched.

"Fuck off, baby~" Ino then grabbed the back of Sakura's head and shoved her face into said 'fat thighs', the latter screaming in the usual disgust/shock furor that was characteristically Haruno Sakura.

"**LETGOLETGOLETGOINOOOOO!**"

This was just scaring away more people from the parking lot.

"Ahhm, h-hey now, let's just go use a restroom already, 'kay?"

Ino wouldn't stop smirking as she forcibly dug Sakura's face into her thighs.

* * *

Sakura's face could only be described as a traumatized stroke victim in mid-sneeze.

"Aw'right, get over it already, big brow. You're acting like a homophobe," Ino breezily teased as they filed out of the restroom one by one. Ino switched out of her comfy sweater dress for a pair of low-waist short-shorts of the destroyed persuasion with a faded mauve batwing jersey top that somewhat showcased her flat stomach.

"What makes you think I ever want to get that close to your crotch again?" Sakura exhaled like she were still in shock about it, and it made Hinata worry slightly if this was going to last long. It would be awkward if Sakura and Ino had to argue this well into their 'surprise appearance'.

Hinata hadn't been in Kobe since she was a little girl, but she was stoked in general. There were a lot of friends they hadn't seen since graduation, and she just felt like singing and twirling down the sidewalk thinking about turning their little crowd into a party.

_'Three girls and two guys~ It's even more fun when it feels like we're outnumbering them!'_ She was already getting warm in the face from the pure frivolity of it all.

* * *

"AHHH!"

"**AHHH?!**"

The girls had burst through the apartment door, screaming their heads off like over-caffeinated junior high girls, leaving Naruto to fall unceremoniously on his ass, his heart thudding in his ears like the awkward first time he tried out a local rave.

Sasuke smirked from the sidelines as he welcomed the sudden intrusion and closed the door behind their guests.

"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-kun!" Hinata bouncily cried as she rushed over to the boys, beaming like the sun reflected off of freshly polished chrome. She was antsy as if she wanted to hug them both, but instead she pushed down the urge and grinned that giddily sweet way she was, looking like she were their excited kid-sister the way she stood between them, so happy and so short.

"Haha, you look like you're dating the both of them!" Ino laughed hysterically, immensely enjoying the image they made, "Show us your boy candy, Hina-taaan!"

Hinata paused with an innocent blink before grabbing both Naruto and Sasuke's hands in her own, and she struck a half-sassy, half-dorky little pose, her butt jutting out towards Sasuke while she made a funnily smug pout at the camera. Sakura took the photo right away, capturing Sasuke's calm smile and Naruto's guileless confusion, part of her thinking they all need to take the same photo just so that it'd be fair. But she wasn't going to voice her thoughts, knowing she'd only sound insecure and petty. Still, she hated biting down on such things and had to admit that Hinata _did_ look adorable between the two of them.

"What's the occasion, ladies?" Sasuke inquired, the sultry bass of his voice instilling an instant ease in the three girls.

"Weren't you surprised?" Hinata laughed lightly, noting how only Naruto got on the receiving end of their little joke.

"Yeah, what the fuck was that for?" Naruto scratched wearily at his head, his face resembling very much like a kitsune. Sakura stomped forward and pinched the inside of his elbow with a firm twist, mild irritation on her face. "A-Aa-aaah?! AND WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?!"

Sakura, of course, didn't bother to answer his whining, instead opting to let him in stew in what she perceived was his own ignorance. He always said the most annoying things, in her opinion.

"We just started our break, so why not swing by, right? You guys started yours too, right?" Ino grinned a mix of mirth and secrecy, as if she were plotting to bug them for days to come.

"Mmhm, two days ago," Naruto sheepishly rubbed at the back of his head, still unsure how to react to the three of them being here so suddenly. He could have been in his boxers still. What made them think it was cool to barge in on a guys' apartment?

"Completed our semester finals; You three want something to drink?" Sasuke added, receiving eager nods from the three, and he wandered over to the kitchen.

In their experience with Tokyo apartments, Sasuke and Naruto's apartment was fairly open; still small, but open. Entering the front door, you're immediately greeted by the living room on the right and the kitchen on the left. The genkan was rather wide too and they each worked off their shoes - Sakura's a pair of pink converse, Hinata's a pair of two-tone mary-janes with a two-inch heel, scalloped trim and a classy-cute bow, and lastly Ino's a pair of spartan flats.

The living room had a four seat L-shaped couch up against the window, a crumpled blanket pushed up against the side along with a lone pillow. There was also a small coffee table overcome by textbooks and empty beer cans in front of it, and the single side table held a lamp, tissue box, and several forgotten snack wrappers and an empty cup ramen with chopsticks still leaning inside.

The kitchen however was surprisingly clean - or maybe the apartment itself had been messier and the boys were actually in the middle of cleaning and had gotten this far before they barged in - the kitchen had a tiny island in the center of the linoleum with four bar stools around it (one by furthest width side and three on the length side). The counter was also L-shaped, with sink and cupboards, then a toaster wedged in the corner, the stove/oven combo, another row of cupboards, then wall - where the refrigerator resided.

"Alcohol!" Ino cheered with a girlish thrust of her fist into the air and that distinctly female head tilt that females seem to do.

"Already? Alright," Sasuke smirked as he rummaged through the fridge.

Naruto wandered over to the island and stood opposite of the girls. He was still surprisingly quiet, but no one seemed to mind or address it, calmly attending to their own affairs as well.

It'd been two years since they all saw each other at graduation. It's not like they really bothered to text, call or visit often in that amount of time. They'd all been fairly occupied adapting to their new lives.

* * *

Naruto watched Sasuke break off three cans of dry beer and slid them across the island to the girls' waiting hands.

"You sure you want beer too, Hinata-chan?" Sasuke asked the quieter girl curiously, like he were speaking to a kid sister of his. She nodded happily and took a tentative sip of the brew. "What kind of drinker are you?" Sasuke added, and a sheepish smile seemed to spread on her small mouth, like she didn't know what to say for sure.

"A-ahm... Giggly I guess, right?" Hinata leaned over the island to look at Sakura and Ino who nodded appreciatively with smirks and snickers, "A-ah, I-I'm not a heavy drinker or anything, though..."

"You've never gotten drunk, yet?"

"Oi, what kind of question is that now?" Naruto finally spoke up, brows furrowing at the direction of the conversation.

"What do you mean what kind of question, dobe?" Sasuke shrugged him off, as so did Sakura and Ino who were quick to answer for him.

"You think the two of us wanna be responsible for the phone call we'd have to make to Neji if Hinata got completely smashed?" Ino laughed flippantly.

"Neji's got eyes in the back of his head, it's scary. He,He,He- no wait - We went to a club, right? And this dumbass falls into Hinata-chan while we're just sitting at our table, and spills all our drinks, and Hinata's got her whole BACK drenched in this idiot's booze. Then we get back to the apartment, and Neji calls us - not HINATA - He calls US. And asks if a guy hurt Hinata at the club. Now I know, that's a pretty vague assumption, like a fortune teller's suggestion, but it was true!"

"He could have had that worry to begin with,"

"But this wasn't our first club outing; We didn't tell him our night plans or anything. The first time we went out he just explicitly told us to cockblock any guys from dancing with her,"

Sasuke burst out laughing, and Hinata looked mildly embarrassed but maybe mildly amused too.

"And on her twenty-first, he simply stated no more than ten shots," replied Ino.

"The dobe can't even do ten,"

"Wha-? **HEY!**" WHY TELL THEM THAT?! You _unforgiving_ traitor!

"I did twelve!" Hinata squealed suddenly behind a cupped hand, and whether she had enough beer or not (he had no idea if she had still been nursing the can or what), true to their word she had become very giggly.

Naruto's face was burning to his ears and he couldn't look at this group directly anymore. _'Fuck, great... Even she can drink more than me... Fuckin' teme, eat shit asshole...'_ Really, why embarrass him so soon? They just got here and he had to take a shot at him like that? Just to impress the three of 'em? With their gleeful eyes and cute looks...

"Oh, Naruto-kun, sit down~" Hinata cooed apologetically as she patted the stool adjacent to her, like she were trying to appeal to a younger sibling. "What've you two been up to?" Her attention swept back to Sasuke though she had asked about the two of them, and Naruto couldn't help but fidget with his fists shoved in his pockets.

"The usual, pretty much,"

"Whatever the usual is," Ino smirked smugly as she leaned her cheek against the back of her hand.

"Whatever your usual is, I'm sure," He replied, sounding smug as well.

"Ah, understood," Ino nodded sagely, bringing out more deep laughter from the teme.

"Were you two cleaning or something?" Hinata inquired innocently as she glanced back at the living room, though she realized that there were no cleaning supplies out to suggest that they were.

"No, that's just the dobe's mess from yesterday,"

Naruto was really beginning to wish they had never did this surprise visit thing. Who knows what they were thinking of him now.

"What're you doing sleeping on the couch?" He felt Hinata's eyes on him this time, and judging from the snickers he could tell Ino and Sakura were sharing a psychic _fujoshi_ thought. Two guys, one apartment, and one of the two guys is sleeping on the couch. Great.

"Eh? Studying, of course," He muttered audibly to the floor, still wishing and wishing and wishing that they'd go to their hotel or something and call them if they could come over or not. Then he heard the screech of the bar stool and the pattering of Hinata's feet across the linoleum into the living room. "I'm-! ... doing an Agricultural major..." He called out for her to hear.

"Eh?"

"What?" Ino and Sakura both broke out into brief confused laughter as they tried to imagine The Number One Knucklehead being in charge of irrigation, crops or rice paddies.

"Why don't you ask what Sasuke's doing?" He opted for them, expecting them to take the bait immediately, but...

"Eh wait, why are you still studying?" Sakura asked in that nosy way of hers. _'And why is Hinata still in the living room?'_ Naruto briefly mused to himself.

"Cuz... I... have supplementary," He finally admitted at long last, still talking to the floor like it was the most reliable thing to confide in.

"You have to re-take Agricultural classes?" Ino - of course Ino - remarks so incredulously.

"It's the economics portion I have to re-take-!"

"You got a tutor for that sort of thing?" Naruto's eyes instinctively sweep towards Sasuke and he sees the teme casually point a thumb at himself. "Oh." Ino's smile turns smug again at this. "Well," She claps her palms together as if intending to dispel the stressful air, "This is a good time as any to hang out, right?"

"Eh?!" Naruto's head swivels to their direction and he feels his heart drop to the floor and his blood pressure rise at the same time. He understood where this was going. Distraction. Inevitable and unavoidable distraction. Because Sasuke was readily going to hang out with them and spend his ample free time in a wonderful and fulfilling way, surrounding himself in the giggly, blushing admiration of three girls, and Naruto was going to be without his tutor for who knows how many hours and days and he was going to be alone in this place trying to cram while they had a good time without him and, and, and... _'Piece of shit...'_ Either he forsake his studies and look forward to another F, or he be miserable for the next few weeks (how long were they here for?) and hopefully pass the second time around.

"I think the dobe could use some time off,"

Naruto knew he had caved in then as he bent down to scoop up his heart off the floor like a fresh caught fish flopping on dry land; And with that he was forced to stuff back in his characteristic optimism and hope, along with said heart.

If Sasuke was going to have fun, then Naruto was too.

* * *

Star - Okay, so I wrote Naruto as a totally standoffish grump here. OOC? Ehhh... (shrugs shrugs) Aside from this being an AU, I do have explanation for that, but the reveal is in the evidence, therefore y'all judge for ye-selves when I post mo' chapters.

So please review peoples~ There's not much use for me to pursue this project if it's no good. I'd willingly attempt to do something healthier, like finally purchase Super Smash Bros. Brawl and put all my time into beating up, unlocking, and what have you. ("Chk-chk", OK gesture)


	2. An Experience Thing

Star - Well I got one great response. Hopefully this chapter can be more... establishing. ... or something.

* * *

Just One Of Those Things

Ch. 2 - An Experience Thing

Naruto made his quick escape to throw on a fresher shirt and apply a single glide of deodorant before the four of them got the idea to leave without him. He quickly whipped his head around his half of the bedroom, admittedly a hurricane of clutter compared to the 'thunderstorm' in the living room, and he dug his hand through a pile of old laundry, remembering where he had last seen his wallet. He lifted out a wrinkled pair of jeans from the mass like Mola Ram pulled the heart from that poor guy's body, the bulge of his wallet in the back pocket almost rewarding him with an imagined little treasure tune.

He shoved the obese leather into his pants pocket and tugged his cell phone from its charger by his bed, looking forward to eating out more than anything.

He swiveled on his heel and blithely jogged out of there, carefully minding to not acknowledge the immaculate perfection of Sasuke's half.

* * *

Naruto was wondering if Hinata was really too tipsy to walk on her own. She had her arm linked with Ino's, yet she had one hand leaning as well, like how a girlfriend would engage with her boyfriend. Sakura appeared to be fighting her instincts to walk closer to Sasuke without looking idolatrous or adulterous (whichever it was) because she would get this guilty look on her face, as if she was meant to keep stride with the girls or be at fault for something if she didn't. She was talking a storm however, perhaps to compensate for not being able walk & talk with Sasuke.

"- And then there were flowers on my doorstep. I go into my intern shift the next day, and the same sweet old man is there in the lobby, and he asks if I liked the flowers-!"

"He bought them from my family's chain, hahaha!" a rather hyper Ino interjects.

"Was there a card with the flowers?" Sasuke inquires.

"Yes! I knew it was from him, but-! I said thank you and that ole usual small talk, but he asked if I would go to dinner with him later-! What do you after that?"

"So you didn't go then?"

Naruto laced his fingers behind his head. He tried to imagine Sakura having a pleasant dinner with a balding senior citizen half her height due to his hunched stature. Then he tried to imagine Sakura visibly uncomfortable in same situation while the old man smiles fondly over their meal. The whole thing looked strange, no matter which version. Maybe it was the 'polite and patient Nurse Sakura' part that was giving him mental block.

"I did," She said finally and Sasuke responded with a quick laugh, "It turned out to be nice actually, I was stupid for worrying it'd turn into a date. It reminded me of the times my father and I would eat nothing but _kinpira_ together when mother's business trips would suddenly get extended."

"What made you decide to be a nurse?" Naruto asked, a vague yet distinct stillness falling over his former classmates. He wasn't sure what happened, only that he felt like he did something wrong, like every other time he apparently did something wrong.

"Are you saying I'm not fit to be a nurse?" Sakura replied cuttingly and cold, too stiff in her agitation to face him.

Suddenly Naruto realized that his deodorant was failing him as he rubbed his palms on the side of his jeans.

"I just asked, I,I mean I can't figure it out..." He caught sight of Sasuke in his peripherals, rubbing his eyes wearily in that tell-tale sign that he was fucking up even more. Hinata was doing something weird with her fingers that he thought only 2D girls did (maybe she's kind of otaku or something?), while Ino was standing close to Sakura with a calm concentration in her eyes, seemingly concerned that things may take a nosedive. Wait, should he shut up then?

"Can't figure it out? What, that I wanna take care of people?" Why was her voice... kind of wavering..? It didn't sound like the same outrage when she'd get insulted on her looks or something.

"Sorry, nevermind. I don't know what I'm talking about," He copped out, only catching at the end how defeated he sounded. It felt pretty ugly to say the thing people had always said to him, but a while ago he realized that was his 'diffuse the moment' phrase, so he was stuck with it.

"No, I wanna know why this is confusing for you," Even without her glaring at him now, her sarcasm was too harsh for him to absorb.

"I think he just missed the conversation," Sasuke added from aside. Huh?

"Wait, what conversation?" The sound and visual of Sakura slapping her palm to her forehead was like someone snapping their fingers by his ears, and the irritated grimace on her face was more evidence that he should shut up.

"He wasn't even paying attention, forget it," Sakura sighed hotly before swiveling sharply on her heel.

The aimless stroll towards the heart of Kobe continued with some muted conversation between the four of them, as Naruto followed awkwardly behind, rubbing the back of his head like it were a magic lamp that would poof away the dour mood he apparently caused.

He realized, albeit begrudgingly, that he would have to ask Sasuke later tonight what he had missed. It was eating at him now. He had to know why Sakura decided to be nurse of all things.

* * *

They came upon a row of cafes and restaurants and decided to settle for lunch a bit early.

Naruto was left to watch their table as Sasuke got stopped by a classmate of his and the girls were off to pick their meals from the menu board hanging over the cashier's counter.

The girls had been glancing almost nervously at the blonde, unsure what to make of him today. He was slouched stiffly in his seat a few tables down, his hands shoved in his jean pockets and one leg restlessly bobbing while he continued to stare. He'd been staring intensely and yet almost unseeingly at Sakura since they last 'spoke'.

"God, he's awkward," Sakura muttered in defeatist woe, accepting a fact that felt hard to swallow. That fact she felt was that he was a hopeless case and that not even electroshock therapy could help him. The other thing that was bothering her was that she couldn't determine if he hadn't changed at all or if he had somehow gotten worse. Being unchanged could be the same as worse, she also reasoned, and then she sighed again.

"Hey, we should just tease him all day," Ino piped in conspiratorially between the two vastly different Juniors. "That'll cheer you up, right? It'll be fun!"

Sakura felt a bit of hope stir within her, and like a wilted flower she visibly perked up at the idea, but didn't readily jump on it. It's not like she needed revenge or anything. He's just another dumb guy. Another dumb guy that's their friend though, and Sakura couldn't help but internally shake at that notion. How many of their friends were also of the 'another dumb guy' demographic? Only Naruto was.

Sakura turned towards Hinata to see what she thought of this plan. Their dark-haired cutie was still wringing her forefinger in a nervous grip, her lips pressed pensively together.

"You guys think I should get the _jingisukan_ or should I stick with the _gyudon_? I don't think all beef meals in Kobe means it'll be Kobe beef though,"

"Hina-chan!" Ino's call from Earth caused the unsuspecting Hyuuga to jump, "We're discussing whether to harass Naruto all day or not,"

"I-I know," The dark-haired girl muttered almost sadly.

"You don't think we're gonna be harsh, right?" Sakura plainly queried the younger girl. Being that Hinata was as sensitive as she was, Sakura had learned to take Hinata's feelings as a sort of Geiger counter or sniffer dog for social situations, instead of taking it as only sensitivity. She was as worth consulting as she was persuading when they still wanted to do something against her recommendations.

She wringed and wringed and wringed, her eyes darting from lower left to lower right as she thought about this and that. Ino and Sakura also recalled Hinata's vague preference for the blonde, and they could see she was in a unique position of hesitation.

"No, I don't think we're going to be harsh," She finally stated, rather slowly though, "I guess we could then, it could be funny,"

* * *

Hinata had always wondered what it'd be like to play around with Naruto, to poke fun at him, poke fun with him, to bask in the fun of in-jokes shared between just the two of them, and ultimately to have fun with him like other people have fun with each other.

She used to watch how he would joke around with Sasuke and the other boys, how his grin would light up the room. His exuberance was infectious, like pure sunshine. She always loved to watch them all, just boys being boys. They had great fun together.

It was those memories that solidified her decision to OK their schemes. She felt it would make Naruto feel right at home.

* * *

Naruto forced his leg still as the girls approached the table with their orders, his and Sasuke's included. They came to this place at least twice a week. It was easy to run into classmates, and just as easy to order since they got the menu memorized.

Sakura still looked annoyed with him, she was kind of snootily avoiding having to look at him. Ino sat beside her, while Hinata flanked the aisle side of the table, adjacent to Sasuke's empty chair. She placed Sasuke's meal in his spot and began to pass him his meal.

"Pork miso ramen for Naruto-kun, compliments of our dear Ino-chan who graciously donated a portion of her big thighs for your meal,"

"EHHH?!" What the fuck did she just say?! But all three of them were roaring and squeaking with side-crippling laughter. Really, what the hell did she say? Naruto was almost wondering if he was too shocked by the amount of words she had uttered or if he really was shocked by what actually came out of her mouth, 'cuz he never heard her say such things before. He peered down at his bowl of brothy heaven, the wondrous three slices of brownish meat sitting neatly atop the noodles, accompanied by a soft-boiled egg half and signature _naruto_ slice. If the pork somehow were a piece of Ino's leg... He began to imagine wisps of blood oozing from the meat, swirling around the broth like smoke in water.

He pushed the bowl forward on the table.

"ARE YOU FREAKIN' SERIOUS?!" Sakura and Ino shot up from their chairs, their otherwise attractive faces contorted in perfectly symmetrical incredulity. The looks were fierce, burning, and they practically loomed over him as they vibrated with disdain. Now he managed to piss both of them off. Naruto slunk back, unsure any defense he gave would actually fix this.

"Well, why'd she hafta make a joke like that?" He muttered forcibly, trying to ignore what his body was trying to acknowledge without his permission; that he was committing social suicide with them now.

"SO NOW YOU'RE NOT GOING TO EAT IT?!" They both screeched.

"What's going on?" Sasuke's voice appeared beside him. He nearly didn't notice. Sakura and Ino dropped into their seats with heavy resignation, possibly deciding that he was too distasteful for them to look even in Sasuke's direction.

* * *

Hinata poked timidly at her meat with her chopsticks as Sasuke claimed his seat beside Naruto. She was kind of relieved for Sasuke's return, maybe because she couldn't have allowed for the skirmish to continue, or maybe because he was able to be like a visual buffer, something to deflect her attention from the odd blonde or soften the harshness of his presence.

She lowered her gaze from the whiskered blonde and continued to poke at her meal in similar resignation as the girls.

She finally got to joke with him, and it didn't turn out anywhere at all like she had always hoped.

_'Well, that's that then,'_ She sighed.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Sasuke's voice was like the low hum of a bass struck once. Naruto had no idea if they were heading for the beach or MOSAIC or what. The girls were keeping to themselves for now while Sasuke decided to hang back with him, clearly to ask more questions like that one.

"What do you mean?"

"How is it that you're pissing them off?"

Naruto shrugged a few times, feeling at a loss since it wasn't like he was even trying to mess up their good time.

"I really don't know... Hinata-chan made this really morbid joke and then the other two got super pissed off,"

"You rejected your ramen because of the joke?"

"Yeah, Hinata-chan said that Ino donated a part of her leg for my meal," When Sasuke laughs - really, truly laughs - it's so faint it's almost stealthy and if you're not used to hearing it, the only way to catch it is to witness it. It starts off as the quickest snicker you've ever heard and then that's it. It's cut short by the true laughter, which is silent, but when you witness him, you see him laughing. Lips are stretched across his teeth. His head is almost forced down as if he tried to catch his laughter before it escaped him, and you can see that despite the stiffness of his upper body, he's vibrating with mirth. _'So that means he's also laughing at the joke I didn't laugh at...'_ Sasuke tried to clear his throat, but he was having trouble lifting his head. "That wasn't funny to you?"

"That's not creepy to you?" Naruto retorted back sarcastically, a stubborn pout on his face. Well the five of them were having loads of fun already, weren't they?

"How about you just apologize to them, hn? We're all childhood friends. How is this supposed to be fun if you're making them not get along with you?"

"What the hell are you talking about? Are we remembering shit differently? Those two have always treated me like a nuisance,"

"I thought you'd had actually gone shy when they arrived," He smirked, appearing almost a shade wistful, "You weren't even a little happy to see them again?"

Naruto chose silence. He was never one to do the rejecting, and if he made his feelings articulate he felt then it'd be written in stone. But it really hadn't made a big difference if he saw them again or never again. Graduation had been... it had been really anti-climatic. Everyone scattered and with that came the realization: he wasn't missing anything or anyone at all.

"So what's the story with Sakura trying to be a nurse?"

Sasuke released a heavy sigh.

"I really can't believe you don't know this,"

* * *

"Aaaaahmygod! The water's so cold!" Ino shrieked as she splashed relentlessly at Sakura and Hinata from the shore.

It was nothing but shrieks, giggles and high-pitched cries down that end, the sounds carrying on the salty ocean spray. Naruto was spread on the sand with his fingers laced behind his head. The sky was fairly clear. It was rather boring to look at. He had to look at his blue eyes in the mirror every day, after all. _'Three-hundred sixty-five times twenty-one...'_ An airplane crested into the plain blue sky. Naruto was fighting with himself whether to get on his hands and knees and beg for Sakura's forgiveness or whether to not do that at all.

Apparently the story was that Sakura's father had suddenly had a heart attack right in front of her when they were all in their second year of high school. She had taken care of him herself, somehow she knew everything she had to do. ... Then again she was like the Hermoine of their hometown, so maybe it's not so surprising, but it still feels kind of miraculous. Maybe she'd always had that fear with having a much older father than her peers. She was so freakin' smart.

He used to have thoughts about her - her short hair, her bright eyes, her small shoulders... When her breasts never changed and her body seemed to remain as skinny as it'd been in childhood, he didn't care that she hadn't 'matured'. Somehow he felt it refreshing that she remained the same. And he used to think about her. He used to think about stroking her hair on the school roof, the sun glinting on her lips. He used to think about how she'd weakly protest as he captured her entire breast in the moist outline of his mouth.

Those are the things he used to think about.

There came a point where her lack of change became a kind of change in itself, because she had never softened towards him, because his feelings weren't going to be reciprocated, and in the end he didn't want her the way he used to.

Those faded feelings were rekindling however, and despite himself he was indulging in them like some sick form of self-abuse - he wasn't ready to admit that he might be masochistic, there wasn't enough evidence to argue against him - but he was thinking about her again, thinking about her saving lives, bettering her skills, tending to the wounded and curing the ill, working under intense pressure for long hours, coming home in her nurse uniform... Yes, that's the type of woman he would have in a heart beat. Maybe... Maybe she _could_ still soften towards him... She just needed the time to mature on the inside.

It was decided.

Naruto shot upright, scrambling to his feet as he stumbled across the sand to chase towards the giggling, shivering nymphs.

"Sakura-chan! ... SAKURA-CHAN!"

"Eh?" The three of them all stopped their somewhat forced frolicking to see what was going to happen.

"I have something I need, _need_ to tell you," He fisted his hands in conviction, completely ready to lay his pride down on the line for her.

"U-uh, okay," He ignored the bemused look on her face, he wasn't going to let anything discourage him.

"Wait! Just here me out!" Sakura had been about to follow Hinata and Ino's lead and leave the water, but he needed her to know he was serious.

"Naruto..."

"Wait, I'm sorry, okay!? I'm sorry I hadn't known-!"

"Okay, Naruto, okay, just let me..." She was still trying to leave. Dammit, why?! Naruto rushed towards the water to reach her.

"No wait, Sakura-chan! I'm sorry I hadn't known what had happened to your dad!"

"Narutooo-"

"I'm sorry I hadn't known what it was that inspired you!"

"AaaUGH! ALRIGHT, FUCK OFF ALREADY!" Sakura's hand swept angrily through the water and in seconds Naruto's clothes were sticking to his skin, cold and sticky with salt. Salt water was in his mouth as he sputtered it out. It stung at his eyes and he tried to wipe his face dry with his shirt collar. "Isn't there a warm shower somewhere?" He heard her say a ways off from him and he saw her sandwiched between Ino and Hinata, all three of them clinging for warmth. "Why did we decide to do this with our clothes?"

The blonde and dark-haired girl giggled at her feisty complaints.

* * *

Being as it were, the girls had no change of clothes and were too cold and sticky to continue the rest of the day with the boys. So they walked them back to their hotel, leaving Naruto and Sasuke to walk back to their apartment in one-sided pensive silence.

Part of Naruto kept humoring the thought of trying again with Sakura, to keep trying and trying and trying. But the rest of him was pretty settled in the status quo and figured any willful changes could be like invoking the wrath of god.

Maybe if he chose to study instead of hang out with them, she would be impressed?

_'Nah...'_

* * *

Star - Holy crap, I did this in one sitting! ToT I'm so happyyyyyy! Reviews are still appreciated pwease. Pweaaaaaaaaase. lol


	3. Another One Of Those 'Friendship' Things

Star - Thank you so so so much again to **Pantyanarchy89**! You, I wish you had a darned account lol, it'd be easier to contact you about stuffu, but ah well, thanking people in the chapters is kind of old school, eh? Haha, I meant that in a good way. XD I'm curious what your expectations are because it is FAR too soon to even call this a 'gem', and so I hope that I don't disappoint you at any moment in the future. Also...

HAVE YOU READ CHAPTER 38 OF STS? (see, THIS is why I would love to contact you if you had an account. OTL) Your last review makes me wonder if you ever saw that there was a new (old) chapter or not. You reviewed on Chapter 37 to encourage me to update, but I already had, this past April. QuQ So let me know what you thought of that chapter, how you felt and whatnot... I'm particularly proud of the flashbacks I did in the beginning-ish portion, just letting you know. XP

That said... The first two chaps were like warm ups, especially since I went and got ahead of myself and decided to post the second chapter without beta-ing or sleeping on it or nothing. A part of me has regretted not adding enough fun scenes to make the day seem longer, but ah well. Also...

**EDIT: I had given incorrect ages to the characters, since I myself am a lazy tard who hasn't actually graduated from college or nuthin'. Yeah, so last chapter I edited Naruto to being 21 not 22, buuut... that's still incorrect by a year, since they're supposed to be Juniors doing first round of higher education. OTL In any case... Sakura, Ino, and Sasuke are 22 (though they shouldn't be either) and Naruto and Hinata are 21. Really, you guys know what's wrong with that math right? But I won't go into it, that's the ages that they are and they're Juniors of all things. OTL (supposed to be graduates by 21, I fail so hardcore, ugh. OTL I could be a graduate already but... yeah, money sucks.)**

* * *

Just One Of Those Things

Ch. 3 - Another One Of Those 'Friendship' Things

**Like a stray dog in its daily nest assorted from flotsam and found items, Naruto was settled comfortably atop his bed.** The dirty laundry had grown over time, constructing itself into some sort of moat while the rumpled, sunk-in appearance of his bed resembled a gorilla's nest. It suited him just fine, otherwise it wouldn't have gotten like this in the first place. It enhanced the notion of having his own territory, a bubble that smelled like him and felt like him.

Naruto peered in vain at his course textbook, seeing nothing but blocks of paragraphs shoved around clinical portraits of trees and pastures and whatever else that was non-sentient with roots. He flipped through the chapters absently. The fine print and compressed details were straining on his attention. School had been this way for the past few semesters. It had finally come to the point where Sasuke was regularly pulling his weight for him - without a word, without him having to ask - Sasuke already knew when he was needed.

It was fucking embarrassing.

But...

He never teased him about it. He never brought attention to it at all.

Naruto slunk down the wall, his feet hitting into a pile of old clothes before promptly kicking the pile over the edge of the bed. Irrigating a field was not going to be the same as watering his ficus.

How could Sasuke think he considered Sakura the same way as him? Childhood friend was too bittersweet a word for her. It was too impersonal when he had liked her so much. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what he was going to do when he saw her again tomorrow. If there was still a chance...

He leaned his head back with the closing of his eyes, and he tried to think.

As much as he liked her... It would be cool to really become friends with her, he thought.

_'Maybe I should try to act the way I did back then, put on my old bravado...?'_

Naruto opened his eyes and glanced around his mess.

* * *

Naruto ambled towards their tiny laundry room with a pile poured onto his arms when Sasuke appeared from the kitchen entryway, a cell phone in his hand.

"Ino said that Sakura caught a cold,"

Naruto blinked at the person he most definitely considered a childhood friend.

"You have their cell numbers too?"

* * *

A Sakura Blanket Burrito was curled against the side of hotel bed no.1, grumbling and muttering curses as she basked in the gossip that had been inspired from all of this.

"What the hell was he trying to do?" Ino laughed incredulously, her arms crossed as she leaned back against the wall with one foot propped against it. Indeed, this was Naruto's fault. The dumbass made her stay in the water too long when it was already freezing! She and the girls were ready to leave 'til he came along - even their playing around had been reaching a point of being forced because they wanted nothing more but to keep moving - He hadn't noticed that at all? And the idiot took Hinata's joke the wrong way! Was he still unable to read situations?

"And what the hell was he doing being so riled up like that?" Sakura bristled within her stuffy cocoon, trying her best not to recall his actions too vividly lest she read too much into it. Because the more she read into it, the more creepy it got. All the implications were wrong. Naruto was annoying - and hopelessly so - but he was hopeless in almost a cute way, like he were a little brother she pitied but affectionately. But god, if he still acted infatuated with her... Sakura shuddered with disgust. She felt even more sorry for guys in those oblivious, unrequited situations. She couldn't even imagine being in such a dead-end mindset. And such was one that they put themselves into. The only cure is that they fall for someone that _actually_ likes them back, tch.

Hinata laid atop the Sakura Burrito, gently spooning her friend with her chin laid resting atop where it felt like the older girl's shoulder was.

"He did seem... passionate," Hinata added curiously. Sakura shuddered again. "Do you need more blankets?"

"Not at all,"

"Maaaan! Harrassing the hell out of him isn't going to have full effect without you!" Ino grinned heartily, but Sakura shook her head.

"Don't bother with that anymore," Sakura sighed, "He seems too occupied. It'd be pointless to have any fun with him with our antics if he can't recover from it afterwards," Sakura seemed to be the only one that understood what she was saying, because Ino was quick to miss the point in her careless reply.

"Can you imagine someone hanging themselves over an Agriculture major?" She said caustically, causing Hinata to softly gasp, " _'__**I HATE PLANTS!**__'_ and then they kill themselves with the jungle vine they'd been cultivating for six years,"

"Ino-chan, that's terrible!" And yet strangely amusing, even Sakura was sniggering over the imagery.

The three Tokyo students lapsed into a distracted silence, the early afternoon feeling slow and somehow half-formed, what with their weekend plans turning out like this. A bottled water laid on the nightstand next to Sakura's bed, along with some dry snacks, medicine, and a pack of cold patches they bought downstairs.

Hinata gently pressed the back of her hand against Sakura's cheeks, forehead and beneath her chin, earning a small amused smile from the nurse-in-training.

"You two are ready to go then, I guess?" She sighed out, sounding a shade wistful, but really she was just tired.

Ino and Hinata nodded at each other.

"Mm," "Yup,"

They would have left much earlier had Sakura not gotten sick last night, but they were sure she was in her own good hands now.

"Seee yaa later theeeen," She smirked and resigned herself to a restful position against her pillow.

* * *

Summer in Kobe wasn't so different from their hometown. It got hot, it got humid. There were mountains, there were trees, and there was concrete. Pretty much the only thing that took him a while to get used to was being able to see the ocean from their balcony door, the sun glinting off the waters at dawn and glowing in a haze of pink morning clouds. Being hemmed in by a single mountain was also a slightly strange feeling, like being cut off from the majority of the world and living in fictional landscape you'd find in a Miyazaki film. Maybe the other thing that took him a while to get used to was the international 'mish mash' of the city, the culture here was both... simple and sophisticated at the same time.

Naruto rifled through the now _clean_ pile of laundry strewn lazily atop his rumpled bed. He had forgotten the completed load last night after he threw it in the wash, so he had to toss half-dry wrinkled garments into the dryer couple hours earlier without much of a choice; there wasn't time left. Sasuke said they were on their way.

Nice of them to give a warning this time, he thought with the roll of his eyes. But he was beginning to question why they should come over at all. With just the two of them now, it kind of looked like they were picking _them_ up. The girls picking up the boys at _their_ apartment.

"Whatever," He sighed blandly as he slid off his morning shirt for a fresh one, "Mm?" Naruto craned his head up and stared questioningly at the ceiling, as if it had said something. No, he heard something. "..." He waited, but he wasn't hearing anything more. It was really weird, he wished he could hear it again. Every few weeks or so he could hear the coed next door having sex, but it hadn't sounded like that. She moaned like a sexually hard-up wife. _Chk!_ "EH?" Naruto whipped around towards the open doorway.

"And here we have the rare tail-less Saiyan in its natural habitat," grinned Ino, Sakura's _Nikon_ in her hands, very much resembling an intrusive nature photographer, "Note the gorilla-like nest, fascinating,"

"Fuck off!" Naruto didn't think, he just ran over and kicked the door close on Ino. Lucky for him she had reacted quickly or else he would have been responsible for breaking Sakura's camera, or at least the lens. His right hand rested uneasily over the door knob as he tried to come to terms with the uncomfortable sensation in his face, the way his ears were burning as if suffering from inflammation. What the hell were they doing? And what was with Hinata... being there? Why? She was looking... What she was doing looking? Ino was intruding, but Hinata was with her too and she was... looking. She was looking at him, peering at him without his knowledge 'til he turned around, seeing everything... Naruto's hand flew to the back of his neck and he could the skin there was on fire as well. He had no idea if she had just been innocently looking into his room or if... she was shamelessly staring... being sneaky and rude like Ino... He didn't know. He didn't know if they were still out there by the door though he hadn't heard anything all the time he'd been standing there.

He raked his fingers through his hair with a humiliated growl. This was seriously friggin' weird. He didn't know of any coeds that did what they did, not any female friends... He never heard any stories anyhow.

And these were his former classmates; girls he never really got to know _all that well_. Suddenly they re-appear, and they act like nothing they do matter, like they've all joked like this together before.

"She's got a picture of me..." He strained a groan with a grimace. He marched back to his bed and swiftly undressed, forcing down all thoughts of awkwardness and potential failures. Dark slim-fit jeans and a three-fourths sleeve baseball shirt seemed good enough.

* * *

Hinata had her curled fingers pressed firmly to her lips, a poor effort to hold back her voice as well as to obfuscate the utter bashfulness on her face, blush from nose to ears in all.

They were all hiding.

Yes, they were hiding.

They were twenty-two years old (she was twenty-one still), and they were playing a nine-year old's prank on The Number One Knucklehead. As soon as he had slammed the door on Ino's face, the smug art student beckoned them all through hushed excitement to hide immediately! She found herself sandwiched between Sasuke and Ino in the almost impossibly tiny laundry room, with Sasuke taking the rear since he was roughly two heads taller than herself. She biting on the inside of her bottom lip. She was soon finding it hard to ignore the warm amber scent of his cologne hogging her senses, the involuntary press of his body, firm yet soft. She never experienced the feel of a man's body heat, it was the most strangely inviting thing, like wanting to crawl under a fully heated _kotatsu_ after enduring biting winter winds... Or maybe more like the promised embrace from an older brother-type with the 'forbidden connotations' attached. She let a tight sigh escape through her nostrils as she resigned herself to her ambivalence. It was difficult not trying to lean back and rest against him like it didn't mean anything. It wouldn't have to mean anything.

Ino's eyes met with her own before quickly scanning between the two of them behind her.

"Well, well, look at the three of us here in the laundry room. Should we start a threesome?"

Hinata's body went hot as she suddenly lost her footing and fell in shock against Sasuke's body - the full on press of his body heat was enough to convince her that she should faint, faint right there and now to escape her own embarrassment. But no, such a thing wasn't that easy and - Sasuke's hands were gently enclosed around her shoulders. Hinata sharply eeped at this and tried miserably to curl into herself, as if she were a flower shriveling from the arid sun. She wasn't even aware of the cheeky apologies Ino had been spouting towards her.

"Are you still so shy?" His deep voice whispered softly to her and she felt herself shrink further away.

"Th,This isn't exactly c-common for me," She murmured, trying to will away her awkward smile. This always happened when she was severely embarrassed; she smiled, and she didn't think that ever made sense.

"SHH!" Ino's silent scream echoed shortly through their corner, and they soon heard the clicking of a door knob and the fumbling of hard footsteps trodding across carpet. Hinata carefully glanced upwards and found Sasuke staring directly at her, his eyes smiling with her own. Hmm... "Okay, he's at the end of the living room! GO, GO!" Ino grabbed Hinata's hand and they jerked out into the hallway, her heart thrown up in her mouth. All of a sudden she was scared as the three of them slid stealthily against the wall, "OHSHIT! GOGOGO!", towards the bedroom..?

Wait, why the bedroom?!

Hinata hadn't even noticed Sasuke's hand helpfully ushering her on and she was tugged mercilessly along by the overly excited Ino.

They slid in without touching the door. Maybe there was a chance he'd notice. And then she caught a full look at the boys' shared bedroom, never before seeing such a stark contrast in her life. Sasuke's side was minimalism, efficient - while Naruto's was a contained explosion of clutter, color and clothing.

Hinata eeped again as they all suddenly crowded onto the balcony like a mob trying to escape a building fire. Sasuke quietly closed the glass door, and Hinata glanced over at Ino who took to the other side, her back pressed against the wall while she peeked carefully over the side.

Hinata suddenly realized that Sasuke's hands were still on her shoulders, but she was caught up in seeing what was going to happen that - the bedroom door opened and Ino let out a high shrill before cutting herself short. She was silently laughing in hysterics, a begging expression stuck on her face. Hinata's breath flew from her throat, suddenly finding herself tightly caught in Sasuke's arms, holding her away from the glass door. Then she saw Kobe from a view she hadn't seen yet. The skyline here was so much more pleasant than Tokyo's. The harmonious mix of architecture, trees and the ocean glinting off in the horizon with the swirl of white clouds above them; it was an almost cathartic sort of beauty. And what else was neat was that she could tell the way the city sloped down towards the water...

"Ha, he's gone. He looks so pissed!" Ino squealed behind her hand. She was shamelessly amused, and she knew it.

"What do we do now?" Hinata asked, her words holding double meaning. She was asking where they were going to hide next since they seemed to have cornered themselves here. She was also asking how they were going to make it up to him if this meant they were done with their game now.

"You think he'd call you by now or something," Ino smirked at Sasuke's direction.

"You'd think that, but you're forgetting his pride,"

"He doesn't think we actually ditched him, does he?"

"Ah! Don't make that face, Hina-chan!" Ino's hands were suddenly clamped over her eyes as if to protect her vision and sanity, causing Hinata to try to smooth away whatever features she was making. Hinata heard the soft buzzing of a vibrating phone and glanced behind her as Sasuke began fishing out for the device in his jean pocket. Hinata got up on her tippy-toes to peer at the SMS he had received.

_**From: Dobe**_

_**Title: FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU**_

_**Body: FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU**_

_**FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU**_

_**FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU**_

_**FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU**_

_**FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU**_

_**FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU**_

_**FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU**_

_**FUCKYOU!**_

Hinata sucked in the inside of her cheek.

"Not exactly the happiest response," Sasuke plainly stated, prompting Ino to burst out laughing.

She slapped at her forehead and laughed up at the sky, "What do we do now, indeed," Hinata knew from her tone that Ino wasn't done scheming yet, and she found herself worrying and wondering how far they were from that ole imaginary line. "Sasuke-kun, I'm open to suggestion,"

"Hn..." Hinata glanced up at the dark-haired Uchiha, a thoughtful pause on his face, "I could give you his cell number and you can SMS him pretending to be Sakura-chan,"

Ino's eyes lit up with a dramatic gasp.

"What should it say?! What should it say?! What're you thinking?!"

As Sasuke began to work on forwarding Naruto's contact info to Ino via SMS, he replied with a thoughtful drawl, "Tell him..." He hit the send button, "No, ask him if he's seen you two,"

"That's kind of boring, Sasuke-kun," yet Ino cooed his name nonetheless as she received his SMS and began to add Naruto into her contacts. She swiftly drew up her message and sent it straight to Naruto. Hinata was beginning to need a seat. She didn't think she could last through such extended pranking without sitting down.

"Ah!" Ino squeaked in uncontainable excitement as her screen flashed with his reply.

_**From: Uzumaki Naruto**_

_**Title: Sorry**_

_**Body: They didn't ditch you too, did they?**_

Ino burst out laughing as she showed Sasuke and Hinata the reply, the phone shaking in her wriggly hand.

"No emoji, he's still pissed," Sasuke smirked, "Okay, tell him that 'you' faked being sick and that 'you' had sent the two of you off so that you could have him and the hotel all to 'yourself',"

Hinata felt her heart swell to burst in her chest at Sasuke's reply - for him to jump so quickly into that sort of evil concoction - she couldn't believe it. What if Naruto actually fell for it?

"Ohmygod, best lunch ever," Ino grinned blissfully as her fingers worked their magic, the phone itself almost emitting dark electric waves from the very nature of their prank.

"Sasuke-kun, are you sure this is alright?" Hinata turned up to the young man who has easily usurped Sakura's former position of partner-in-crime among their ranks at this point.

"We'll see," was all he could say as he continued to smirk over this whole thing.

_**From: Uzumaki Naruto**_

_**Title: RUSHITTINGME?**_

_**Body: SENDMEAPICSOIKNOWURNOTFUCKIN GWITHME.**_

"Okay, hmm..." Ino swayed in place, apparently ruminating over Naruto's latest reply. "Ah, Hina-chan?"

"Mm?" Hinata blinked as Ino began to briskly tip-toe over to her. "Wh-What're you..?"

"We need to send him a picture,"

"O,Of what?!" Hinata uttered squeamishly before Ino had already gotten on her knees before her, her free hand grabbing at her mid-length dress. "N,Noo! Inooo!" Hinata fought to keep her dress down, it wasn't exactly easy for Ino to hold up by herself anyways, she'd have to-

"Sasuke-kun, subdue the maiden,"

Sasuke's warm arms then clamped themselves tightly around her upper body, her lithe wrists caught in his heated grip. _'A,Ahh no...'_ Being held against him this way was more unique than before, and having to become almost half-naked in his arms was- and then on the balcony... the fresh air... with the view as open as this - oh god, nothing could get worse than this. Oh god, she could feel his hearting steadily beating against her back. Hinata clamped her eyes shut as she felt Ino gather up her dress further and further up 'til she held it securely against her waist. She didn't know what was going on anymore, what she was waiting for, it was dark and it was hot, that's all that existed in this moment. God no, they couldn't send him _that_!

There was the characteristic fake camera noise of the cell camera and she felt Ino's hand release and her dress unceremoniously fall back around her legs, making her decent again.

"Thank you for your sacrifice,"

"Your solemn voice is stupid," Hinata sighed out, somehow expressing that her sanity was still intact despite her mortification, and it made Ino giggle.

"Don't worry, I didn't look," Sasuke smiled warmly down at her, almost getting Hinata to nearly forget the ordeal. His hands were on her shoulders again... "Did you send it to him?"

"Yeah, but he hasn't replied yet-" Ino glanced through the glass door before quickly ripping herself away and quickly pressed herself against the wall, causing Sasuke to react by pulling Hinata against the wall like before. They took the chance then to carefully peek inide the bedroom-

"A-AH!" Hinata croaked, causing Sasuke to instinctively clamp a hand over her mouth, his chest rumbling with withheld laughter. It was Naruto- It was Naruto undressing- I,It was N-N-Naruto n-n-naked- b-butt naked- Ohmygod, he was butt naked. Hinata didn't know when she had closed her eyes because she could still vividly see his naked form forever burned on the back of her eyelids, the expanse of tan skin, the curve of his jaunty hip bone, the rigid curve of his spine and ohgod even his ass was tan like the rest- no wait, he had a bit of a farmer's tan- b-bu-but even there, down there... it matched, it matched his hair! Forever burned, the image was forever burned across her eyelids. This was so wrong, she shouldn't be looking - well she wasn't really anymore, was she? SHE COULD STILL SEE EVERYTHING!

"Don't freak out, he's getting dressed now," Sasuke whispered laughingly in her ear. She could only utter a mortified moan in turn. She was so sure his body heat was burning right through her as well, she was surprised she wasn't a puddle already. She felt Sasuke suddenly stiffen, an involuntary whispered scream escaping him, "OHSHIT."

Hinata's eyes popped open and she saw the half-dressed Naruto staring at them with hard blue eyes. Hinata suddenly felt very cold just then. Naruto began to march towards them, his silent footsteps carrying the impression of an elephant stampede running right for them!

_'Whatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowe DO?!'_ Hinata inwardly screeched as his hand reached for the balcony door's handle.

He flicked the lock.

The three of them stiffened in mutual shock.

"Oh shit," Ino hissed, seeing Naruto happily flick her off in turn before heading back for the bed for a good shirt.

"He still thinks Sakura sent him that message," Sasuke laughed, the sound like a cross between amusement and played down fear.

"Dammiiit," whine Ino as she leaned up against the glass door and slapped her palm against it repeatedly, "OPENUPDUMBASS! **HEY!** NARUTOOO!"

"Ino," Sasuke warned, causing Ino to shake her head in vehement resignation.

"If he was pissed then..." She gave a heavy sigh and decided to accept their fate. She lifted her phone and typed out a new message. The three of them stared into the bedroom. Naruto was halfway through his shirt with one arm through the sleeve when he grabbed his phone off his bed. He stiffened. His stunned, apathetic blue eyes swept over to their direction and he just stared. Ino was waving at him whilst sheepishly shaking her cell phone in her hand, and he just stared. Hinata could feel her heart beating in her ears.

His cell phone slipped from his hands and landed back on his bed as if it had been a turd, and before she could blink, the glass door was unlocked and forcibly shoved aside.

"**YOU GUYS ARE A BUNCH OF SHITS!**" He screamed before Ino snuck her way past him back inside where the one-sided argument resumed. "WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

"Oh yay, I guess you haven't mellowed out after all!" Ino beamed brightly, her way of disarming a situation involving her wrongdoings. It never worked the way you think it's supposed to, the only way it worked was to prove that Ino wasn't affected whatsoever and couldn't ever be no matter what.

Sasuke kept one hand on Hinata's shoulder as they both carefully filed back inside the bedroom. Naruto's face... She had never seen him so red before, even the veins in his neck were a somewhat pronounced. A thin line of drool trailed down his chin from spittling so viciously.

"WHAT?! YOU DON'T DO THAT TO A GUY! ARE YOU SOME HUGE FUCKTWAD?!"

"Oh come now, Naruto, come come come. It's pretty funny that you fell for it so easily, hehe!"

"**YOU DON'T DO THAT!**"

"Naruto, it was my idea," Sasuke finally said after making sure Hinata was out from the line of fire. She could see the way Naruto hesitated then, the way his eyes flashed between resignation, bitterness and rage.

"You guys are a bunch of shits," He finally hissed before pulling his arm through the last sleeve and stormed out from the bedroom in a fit of hormones and humiliation.

* * *

"Narutooo, c'moooon!" Ino playfully called out as she bounded into the kitchen, Sasuke and Hinata following from behind. He sat by the island, possessively curling his arm around the remaining four beers, unable to look up at either of them. The redness had yet to leave his face and ears. Hinata never thought she could see him look so humiliated. It was as fascinating as it was depressing. "Naruto, we admit that it was a mean joke, but you have to get over it," Instead he curled further into himself, the beer cans scraping lightly against the island counter, leaving them to talk to the top of his head.

He reminded her so much of a dejected child sullenly sipping on their juicebox alone.

Hinata's feet lightly padded across the linoleum until she was hovering by his side, tentative and a bit nervous. She couldn't sweep away the image of the rage that had played on his face earlier, the longer the imprint lasted the more her intrigue grew, in fact it had been strangely captivating, perhaps... she had missed the passion he had always readily displayed back in the day.

"Naruto-kun," She called with mouse-like softness as she reached to pull out the bar stool beside him. His shoulders stiffened just the slightest, possibly not realizing how close she really was. She also never thought she'd see him shut up so firmly now that she observed him a bit more. There was something about him that she cared about. Hinata poked her face into the crevice of his arm and head, and pecked her lips to his cheek. Despite the human-shaped havoc that was Uzumaki Naruto, there was something lulling about his warmth, compared to Sasuke's smoldering body heat. Naruto gave with a jolt and shrank away from her, his dolorous eyes so wide and blue, fearful and confused. "Those were my panties," She admitted softly to him, as if sharing something in confidence. The confusion and fear were then replaced immediately with dubiety, his blue eyes shifting about, scanning her form as if to find the words 'lie' and 'liar' somewhere on her body. "I didn't volunteer for it," She added lastly, his somber blue darting back up to hers. Hopefully he knew he wasn't the only one that got used in this prank? And hopefully he'd see that she was okay with it already, so he could be okay with it too.

"... They forced you then?" His eyes narrowed, sharp with accusation.

"It's okay!" Hinata's hands shot up and waved sheepishly about, hoping to dispel any further bad thoughts from popping into his brain like an agenda.

"How is that okay..?!"

"It's already happened, Naruto-kun, so it's okay. Besides, this thing has only occurred between the four of us," She tried to give her best reassuring smile she could muster. She could still feel her heart beating in her ears. "Just the four of us," She iterated again, feeling encouraged by the way his face ever slowly softened into a look that she could claim to be acceptance.

* * *

Naruto, albeit a tad reluctantly at the time, surrendered the remaining three beers to his 'mean' friends, allowing for the whole group to drink together while they ambled out of the apartment building like a gaggle of truant high schoolers.

Following from behind, hearing their noise and easy laughter, their footsteps stomping echoes loudly through the stairwell, seeing the way Ino hopped two or four steps at a time, Hinata trying to catch up to her and not spill her can at the same time, and Sasuke coolly jogging down the steps after them... The way Naruto's chest felt weightless and heavy and hollow at the same time, how it felt to have that bittersweet lightness try to seep into that hollowness like water into a vessel... Following them, feeling like he was a part of them, but still carrying that disappointment they made him feel in the first place, it was... awkward, yet somehow exciting. Somehow it felt a little wrong even, but that was most likely the fault of unresolved hurt feelings.

Was it okay if, somehow, this was beginning to remind him exactly of his school days with them? Shit, it was almost scary. He never thought he would feel this way again.

He couldn't let them know, couldn't let them see his awkwardness.

Naruto lifted the can to his lips, elbow high in the air as he drank down a quick gulp, then he was on his way to join them.

* * *

"Oi! We should do something that's actually fun!" Naruto came trodding out from the apartment to meet them, a tinge of drunken pink on his cheeks. Ino smirked at this, though she was hoping that meant he finished his booze. If he really was a weak drunk, that was going to be troublesome thing to deal with so early in their day. At least he seemed cheerful now, like finally.

"But we're in Kobe!" She replied in a mock-whine.

"You think that's fun for me? I live here!" The unpredictable blonde retorted vehemently, smirking back at all of them.

"Ugh, seriously? There were things I wanted to see here," Ino threw her hands up in the air to express some of her exasperation. This was really turning into a half-assed make-it-up-as-you kind of day, not exactly the kind she was into if it didn't at least start off early. "Hina-chan, you wanted to see the French _Ijinkan_, right?"

"Yes, well... It'll always be there though, if Naruto-kun-"

"And I wanted to check out the three gardens here, at least _Nunobiki_,"

"What's that?"

"You live here and you don't know what it is?" Ino laughed out loud, this time not mockingly as she'd been since they got here.

"I play tourist 'round the skate park,"

"Oh yeah, you tried to play bicycle polo when a classmate invited you," Sasuke smiled from aside.

"What the hell?" was Ino.

"That was during my third week here," Naruto rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck, "I ended up knocking his tooth out,"

"WITH THE POLO MALLET?" Ino was in hysterics now.

"He just people watches there now, far as I know," Sasuke smirked.

"You'd do better to play hockey, stupid! Ahahaha!"

"Yeah, yeah, shaddup!"

"Is that really all you do there, then? People watch?" Ino shot him a smug looking dubious glance, implying what she was thinking in that single look.

"I don't think I'm gonna knock somebody's eye out next, okay?" He glared getting her to release the laughter she'd been holding in the whole time, "It's just a nice looking area,"

"But you don't know how to skate," Ino stated.

"I don't know how to skate,"

"And you don't know how to bicycle polo," She smirked at him, happily earning another glare from him that made her feel oh-so playful. They came upon a concrete bench flanked by overgrown leafy bushes outside the neighboring residential complex. Hinata sat down with Sasuke beside her, both still nursing their beers, while Ino perched herself on the smooth backrest, lazily rotating her can around and around. "You guys suck," Ino suddenly said after several minutes of comfortable silence.

"Oh?" Sasuke smirked.

"Huh?" was Naruto.

"Well, what the hell is fun then? Billboard brow, Hina-chan and I, we been on the road for a couple days now and we can turn anything into fun. But you guys, _ugh_, so damn picky,"

"I haven't complained about anything," Sasuke offered as a lazy amendment, his arm slung on the backrest behind Hinata.

"WHERE'S THE SPONTANEITY?!" Ino cried melodramatically to the heavens, her head thrown back so far that she was clutching at the concrete backrest to prevent her from falling over. After a few moments of holding that pose, she retracted back like none of that had ever happened. "Have you guys seen the rest of our photos?"

"Nah," was Sasuke.

"If we go to the _Hanshin_ railway, we can bum around Osaka easily,"

"We should take them to _Suma_ at night then, on the way back," Sasuke offered earning a nod from his roommate. Ino was distracting herself with the _Nikon_ that dangled from her neck, leaving the guys to wait on her opinion, like she were somehow the unspoken leader of them all. Not like they really had a choice anyhow.

"Alright, let's go," Ino nodded, still looking at the digital photos. Naruto spun round on his heel and pumped a fist into the air.

* * *

They grabbed all kinds of fast food that they could, and three bento lunches to go with as they trampled into the somewhat empty train car, laughing and talking with paper bags shaking from their hands. The local trains were as affordable as they were slow, but the trip to Osaka was no less than forty mins. Not at all that terrible, even if you could get there in ten on bullet train.

Naruto, Sasuke, Ino and Hinata quickly claimed the very end of the train car, practically behaving as if to crowd around each other and their stash, the boys and girls sitting across from each other respectively. They began exchanging their meals like they were trading cards, Sasuke handing Ino her _McDonalds_ burger, Hinata handing Ino her croquette side order, Sasuke giving Naruto his french fries, Ino giving Sasuke his tomato-heavy chicken cutlet sandwich bento, Naruto handing Ino the box of lemon cookies in his grocery bag, Sasuke giving Hinata her chicken sandwich and french fries, Naruto giving Hinata the _Cinnabon_ she ordered on the way out, Hinata giving Naruto his miso pork flavored chips and soba bento, and giving Sasuke his soba bento, and lastly Hinata passed out their drinks. Ino had _Calpico_, Sasuke got some kind of unrecognizable tea brand, Naruto wanted to try the new annual _Pepsi_ flavor, and Hinata got milk tea.

They had gotten looks from the other passengers during their 'antics' but it they laughed it off afterwards and began to eat. In a matter of minutes the train began to jerk along the tracks and steadily pull away from the platform, allowing the sun to greet them once again.

"Wait, I just realized... We're leaving Sakura in Kobe," Ino had turned to Hinata with an indescribable twist on her face, like a mutation of disbelief and victory. "We haven't even texted her," add subtle Cheshire grin into that mutation.

Hinata turned towards the boys to gauge their reactions. They looked almost as shocked and amused as Ino but with varying degrees of each. Naruto seemed to be mentally slapping himself while Sasuke seemed to be fighting a full blown grin, teeth and everything.

"It's just temporary, not even a whole day," Hinata reminded tentatively, wondering if it really was so bad or not, considering how dramatic the three of them were being about it.

"Just the four of us," Sasuke echoed from aside, still fighting with that grin that wanted to stretch across his face. It was surprising at times how much of a mischievous side the Uchiha really had, even moreso that he practically wore it on his sleeve. It was the one true quality that made her feel like he and Naruto really truly were brothers. One would always take a look at Uchiha Sasuke and think he would be completely reserved, that he would exist merely to smolder hot like coal with eyes that burned similarly, but instead he was as inviting as an open hearth. He was almost _dangerously_ friendly, if that made sense.

"So... a secret day, then?" Naruto looked as if he were rolling the words on his tongue, trying to figure out their flavor.

"Yes," Ino smirked with the ecstatic clap of her hands, "We have to pretend we never left,"

"Do we really?" Naruto asked as he rubbed at his neck. He didn't seem to understand what the big deal was, honestly she didn't either. They could always just text her now.

"She'll be sooo annoyed if she knows we ditched her," Ino reasoned.

"We could just tell her now," Hinata shrugged.

"Yeah,"

"Just the _four_ of US!" Sasuke suddenly repeated with a loudness and laugh that jarred them both.

"What is this you're drinking? What did you get?" Ino grabbed at the glass bottle and turned it around in her hands, "What the hell is this?"

"It's tea," He snickered.

"How do you feel?" She asked.

"Hm? I feel great," He gave a lazy smile as leaned back against the plastic seating and took a bite out of his cutlet sandwich. A smile of mutual emotion blossomed on Ino's lips just then.

"You're 'teadrunk'," She said as if she were calling him a wily rascal, "I'm keeping this for now, I think we all need some of this later," and she tucked the dark glass bottle behind her hip.

"We're still not telling her?" Naruto asked.

"No,"

* * *

Star - Lol, sorry, decided to end it here. :P At least it's twice as long, woot woot. Yeah, me doing a part 1/part 2 biz here, eh unofficially I guess lol IDK. Wasn't planning on it, but I feel fine with the new decision. I'm worried if I keep trying I'll end up writing lazier and lazier, so I'll leave next chap for the party in Osaka, wootwoot.

Reviews still appreciated, thank you very much.

_Liner Notes:  
_

_Ijinkan - The historical district of Kitano-cho contains a number of foreign residences from the late Meiji Era to early Taisho eras of Japanese history. While the term Ijinkan can refer to any foreign residence of this period in Japan, it usually refers to those of Kitano given the number and high concentration of those that remain. (nearly exacted worded from the wikipedia entry, yo.) Currently those former residences have been converted into museum attractions, with the original possessions and furnishing remaining. Would be interesting to visit. I don't think I'd be able to write about it very well. OTL I didn't even like the interior decorating class I was forced into back in high school, though I did learn stuff that would be good for me as an artist. Ack, but my teacher was a bee-yotch. Well that's that, next note.  
_

_Nunobiki Herb Park - Also is very google-able.  
_

_SMS - We all say texting, but I was re-reading the novel version of 'My Girlfriend is a Geek' and he writes SMS, and SMS is the proper or old school term anyhow? But I allowed Ino to say texting in the last scene because of localization, y'know, ya get the 'emotional' impact lol. Most likely when it counts is when I'll have them saying texting, like a colloquialism, but when it feels more 'cultural' I'll write SMS.  
_

If there was anything 'cultural' that I didn't explain, just review and I'll PM you, har! UuU


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